I have always loved reading this poem by one of the greatest Indian poets Rabindranath Tagore. This poem has an astonishing depth of literature, thoughts, and fearlessness – 3 definite traits India needed at the time this poem was written (1910).
Where the mind is without fear
and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken
up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the
depths of truth;
Where tireless striving
stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the
dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward
by thee into ever widening
thought and action into that heaven of freedom,
my father,
let my country awake.
Here’s my attempt to translate this wonderful poem in Hindi:
जहाँ मन भय से मुक्त हो और मस्तक सम्मान से ऊचा हो,
जहाँ ज्ञान का आदर हो और संसार सांसारिक युक्तियों में न उलझा हो,
जहाँ सच का सम्मान हो और नकारात्मक ख्यालो से दूर क्षितिज पाने की आशा हो,
जहाँ भेड़चाल से दूर व्यक्तिविशेष की निरंतर आगे बढ़ने की कर्मठता हो,
हे, परमेश्वर पिता, मेरी ऐसी मातृभूमि को जगाओ !